• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

 

Final signature clears way for demolition of K-25 North Tower

Posted at 12:01 pm August 8, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

K-25 Demolition

Demolition is almost complete on most of the K-25 Building’s East Wing, and work on the North Tower, pictured in the background at left, could start in September. (Photo submitted by UCOR)

Historic preservationists lobbied for years to save the North Tower of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge, but an agreement that received a final signature on Tuesday clears the way for demolition work to begin there in late September or early October.

“It allows us to proceed with our cleanup activities … without delay,” said Mike Koentop, U.S. Department of Energy spokesman in the Oak Ridge Office.

However, officials plan to pay homage to the site, built during World War II to enrich uranium for atomic bombs, with a replica equipment building, viewing tower, and nearby history center, as well as a Web-based virtual museum and a $500,000 grant to buy and stabilize the dilapidated, historic Alexander Inn in central Oak Ridge.

Much of the K-25 building, located at what is now the East Tennessee Technology Park, has already been demolished. There had been a previous plan to keep the North Tower, but concerns about safety, the deteriorated condition of the building, and the cost apparently made that impractical.

“Everybody now, with their signature, is showing that they understand that saving the North End was not a cost-effective option,” Koentop said.

The last signature came from Tennessee Historical Commission Executive Director Patrick McIntyre, who signed the agreement Tuesday morning.

He signed it both as THC executive director and as an officer of the State Historic Preservation Office, said Meg Lockhart, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The other agencies that have signed the agreement are DOE and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Lockhart said it is standard operating procedure for the State Historic Preservation Office to sign these types of agreements last, after the ACHP and any other invited signatories.

The invited signatories on the K-25 or ETTP agreement are the city of Oak Ridge and the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance. They were asked to sign the agreement because they “had a stake in this,” Koentop said.

ETPA will get the Alexander Inn grant, Koentop said.

Officials are planning a Friday morning event in a conference center at ETTP to celebrate the signing of the agreement, which was drafted after a decade of discussions and could cost $17.5 million to carry out.

Koentop said the demolition of the entire K-25 Building, once the world’s largest under one roof, could be complete by the summer of 2014. UCOR, DOE’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, could complete demolition work in those areas of the East Wing that aren’t contaminated with technetium-99 by September, he said.

The few units that contain technetium-99 have to be handled differently, Koentop said.

The K-25 Building once covered 44 acres, and it enriched uranium for four decades before it was shut down in the mid-1980s. The site is slowly being converted into a massive industrial park.

Filed Under: U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, East Tennessee Preservation Alliance, East Tennessee Technology Park, K-25 Building, North Tower, Oak Ridge, Tennessee Historical Commission, U.S. Department of Energy

Advertisements

 


Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Some of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require significant time to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More U.S. Department of Energy News

UPF construction could cost more, take longer

The Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex was supposed to be completed by 2025 for no more than $6.5 billion, but that might no longer be the case. In the past week, federal officials said … [Read More...]

Y-12 celebrates new fire station, emergency operations center

A new fire station and emergency operations center at the Y-12 National Security Complex will replace "severely outdated" buildings that were constructed in the 1940s, about eight decades ago. The new buildings will … [Read More...]

Oak Ridge EM prepared for cold weather to prevent failures

From DOE Office of Environmental Management’s "EM Update" newsletter UCOR employees Andy Rodgers, left, and Alex Johnson install heat tracing to protect systems at the Environmental Management Waste Management … [Read More...]

Extreme Classroom Makeover applications due Jan. 31

The deadline to submit a video application is about one week away in a contest that awards $25,000 to improve STEM education in public schools in the region. ORAU's Extreme Classroom Makeover is open to third-grade to … [Read More...]

You may hear Y-12 sirens when maintenance performed

There will be maintenance work on the public warning siren system in Oak Ridge during the week of January 23, and people in the area might occasionally hear audio from individual sirens around the Y-12 National Security … [Read More...]

More DOE

Recent Posts

  • UPF construction could cost more, take longer
  • Y-12 celebrates new fire station, emergency operations center
  • One person seriously injured in Wednesday crash
  • Oak Ridge EM prepared for cold weather to prevent failures
  • Covenant Health donating land for Roane State health science center
  • School board approves aviation career path
  • Wildcats name new football coach
  • Free dental, vision, medical services in February
  • Junior Playhouse performs ‘Gingerbread: Hansel & Gretel’ in February
  • Extreme Classroom Makeover applications due Jan. 31

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2023 Oak Ridge Today